Wrigley Field renovations are proceeding as scheduled, and Sky 5 gives you a look at how things are coming along at the historic ballpark.
Sorry Chicago baseball fans, the city is apparently not no. 1 - in ballparks, that is.
Forbes on Monday released a ranking of all 30 active Major League Baseball ballparks—and Chicago’s two iconic parks were beat out by a number of others.
Wrigley Field took 10th place, while Guaranteed Rate Field was ranked 28th.
The rankings were compiled based on aesthetics, setting, internal and external design, amenities, external development and historical relevance.
The San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park placed first. The Baltimore Orioles’ Oriole Park at Camden Yards and the St. Louis Cardinals’s Busch Stadium III rounded out the top three.
Only the St. Petersburg Rays’ Tropicana Field and the Oakland-Alameda Co. Coliseum of the Oakland A’s placed below Guaranteed Rate Field.
Of the top 10 parks, six were designed by global architecture firm Populous, formerly HOK Sports. Another, the Kansas City Royals’ eighth-ranked Kauffman Stadium, had renovations done by Populous on two occasions, according to the list.
Chicago Baseball
Populous, founded in 1983, had a hand in either the design or renovation of 20 ballparks, including Guaranteed Rate Field.
Famed Chicago architect Zachary Taylor Davis designed both Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park, the White Sox’s old stomping grounds. Wrigley Field, built in 1914, is the second-oldest ballpark in operation, surpassed only by the Boston Red Sox's Fenway Park, built in 1912.
Populous built the new Comiskey Park in 1991 across the street from Davis’ field, but it was later renamed to U.S. Cellular Field and then Guaranteed Rate Field.
Wrigley Field has seen other use as a spot for high-profile musical acts to perform, and this summer's lineup is no exception.
